Xavier AD Greg Christopher has been on the job since May, but he's already given us a clearer picture of what the Big East wants to do in the future -- expand from 10 to 12 teams.

"The timing part, I don't know that it's next year, but it's probably sometime in the next five years," Christopher said in a Xavier athletics video. Jump to the 5:20 mark to begin hearing his comments on expansion.

And the candidates he suggests that are good fits all come from the Atlantic 10, and shouldn't surprise anyone, given these names were talked about by ESPN.com's Andy Katz earlier this year -- Saint Louis, Dayton, Richmond and VCU. All four programs have quality basketball programs that would fit the Big East’s mission of being basketball-centric.

So if those are the four target schools, which two have the edge?

Saint Louis may be most attractive because of its footprint in the St. Louis TV market, a reason why the SEC coveted Missouri, and it would give Creighton a sense of being something other than the westernmost outpost of this league.

VCU and Richmond would seem to be an either-or proposition, because both schools are in Richmond. But maybe there's no need to add either school when Georgetown penetrates the more lucrative D.C. market. And Richmond is also far closer to ACC country than it is the heart of Big East country.

However, VCU's six NCAA Tournament appearances in the last 10 years, including a Final Four appearance in 2011, speak volumes. Maybe assurances of joining the Big East is why Shaka Smart has been content to stick around and not leave the school.

Dayton makes sense because it's a natural rival of Xavier, it routinely churns out 20-win seasons and its fans also support the team.

Richmond makes sense because of its tradition of NCAA Tournament success, though more of that came in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

What this looks like it will come down to is Saint Louis, and then either Dayton or VCU. Would the Big East's school presidents side with Dayton because it is a private school, and VCU is not? Or would the Big East side with breaking its private school link and add VCU, which holds the basketball edge at this point?

Not an easy choice for Val Ackerman and Co. if and when expansion does come to fruition.